Charnock Richard boss charged over fall death

A Charnock Richard man will appear in court this week charged with breaches of health and safety after one of his employees fell to their death in an empty water tank.

Peter Stuart, 54, of Delph Lane, is the director of the now defunct company, Galt Civil Engineering Ltd, which was based in Wilmslow.

The charges concern the death of Liverpool man Peter Halligan, 45.

Mr Halligan was working above a 14-metre deep tank used to collect flood water at Sutton Hall Farm in London Road, near Macclesfield, on August 14, 2008.

He died at the scene after he lost his footing and fell into the tank below, suffering fatal injuries.

Mr Halligan was employed as labourer on the construction site and was completing brickwork on a manhole at the time of the accident. He was employed by the now defunct firm Galt Engineering who were subcontractors of another firm, Morgan Est.

They had been contracted to work on the drainage tank for United Utilities.

At an inquest in July, Mr Halligan, who lived it Dovecot, Liverpool, was described a “diligent worker”.

A verdict of accidental death was returned by a jury at the hearing in Warrington.

After the inquest, and following an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, the Health and Safety Executive brought criminal proceedings against Galt and Peter Stuart.

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Mr Stuart and the firm have been charged with breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Both are due to appear before South Sefton Magistrates’ Court in Bootle tomorrow, (Thursday, October 18) for the first hearing in the case.

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